Credit Human President and CEO Stephen Hennigan shakes hands Oct. 19 with San Antonio city councilman Roberto Trevino, right, at city council chambers after tax abatements and other incentives were granted for Credit Human to relocate to the Pearl. The package raises questions. less

Credit Human President and CEO Stephen Hennigan shakes hands Oct. 19 with San Antonio city councilman Roberto Trevino, right, at city council chambers after tax abatements and other incentives were granted for ... more

Photo: John Davenport /San Antonio Express-News

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Credit Human President and CEO Stephen Hennigan (center, foreground, striped shirt) shakes hands Thursday October 19, 2017 with San Antonio city councilman Roberto Trevino (right, foreground, facing away) at city council chambers after tax abatements and other incentives were granted for Credit Human. Standing between them (background) is Bill Shown of Silver Ventures. Formerly known as San Antonio Credit Union, Credit Human will be moving to a new location at The Pearl. less

Credit Human President and CEO Stephen Hennigan (left)) speaks with Frank Burney (right) Thursday October 19, 2017 at city council chambers after tax abatements and other incentives were granted for Credit Human. Credit Human, formerly known as San Antonio Credit Union, will soon be moving to The Pearl. less

Credit Human President and CEO Stephen Hennigan (left)) speaks with Frank Burney (right) Thursday October 19, 2017 at city council chambers after tax abatements and other incentives were granted for Credit ... more

Photo: John Davenport, STAFF / San Antonio Express-News

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Credit Human President and CEO Stephen Hennigan (left) speaks with Frank Burney (right) of Martin and Drought, P.C. Thursday October 19, 2017 at city council chambers before tax abatements and other incentives were granted for Credit Human. Credit Human, formerly known as San Antonio Credit Union, will soon be moving to The Pearl. less

Credit Human President and CEO Stephen Hennigan (left) speaks with Frank Burney (right) of Martin and Drought, P.C. Thursday October 19, 2017 at city council chambers before tax abatements and other incentives ... more

Photo: John Davenport, STAFF / San Antonio Express-News

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Rene Dominguez, Director of the San Antonio Economic Development Department, speaks to city council Thursday October 19, 2017 at city council chambers before tax abatements and other incentives were granted for Credit Human. Credit Human, formerly known as San Antonio Credit Union, will soon be moving to The Pearl. less

Rene Dominguez, Director of the San Antonio Economic Development Department, speaks to city council Thursday October 19, 2017 at city council chambers before tax abatements and other incentives were granted for ... more

Photo: John Davenport, STAFF / San Antonio Express-News

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San Antonio mayor Ron Nirenberg (background, center) speaks with city councilman Clayton Perry (right) Thursday October 19, 2017 at city council chambers before tax abatements and other incentives were granted for Credit Human. Credit Human, formerly known as San Antonio Credit Union, will soon be moving to The Pearl. Speaking at the lectern (facing away, left, foreground) is Rene Dominguez, Director of the San Antonio Economic Development Department. less

San Antonio mayor Ron Nirenberg (background, center) speaks with city councilman Clayton Perry (right) Thursday October 19, 2017 at city council chambers before tax abatements and other incentives were granted ... more

Photo: John Davenport, STAFF / San Antonio Express-News

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San Antonio City Councilman Greg Brockhouse (right) asks questions and makes comments on Oct. 19, 2017, at City Council chambers before tax abatements and other incentives were granted for Credit Human.

San Antonio City Councilman Greg Brockhouse (right) asks questions and makes comments on Oct. 19, 2017, at City Council chambers before tax abatements and other incentives were granted for Credit Human.

Photo: John Davenport /San Antonio Express-News

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San Antonio city manager Sheryl Sculley makes comments Thursday October 19, 2017 at city council chambers before tax abatements and other incentives were granted for Credit Human. Credit Human, formerly known as San Antonio Credit Union, will soon be moving to The Pearl. less

San Antonio city manager Sheryl Sculley makes comments Thursday October 19, 2017 at city council chambers before tax abatements and other incentives were granted for Credit Human. Credit Human, formerly known ... more

Photo: John Davenport, STAFF / San Antonio Express-News

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Rene Dominguez (standing, left), Director of the San Antonio Economic Development Department, shakes hands with Bill Shown of Silver Ventures after speaking to city council Thursday October 19, 2017 at city council chambers after tax abatements and other incentives were granted for Credit Human. Credit Human, formerly known as San Antonio Credit Union, will soon be moving to The Pearl. less

Rene Dominguez (standing, left), Director of the San Antonio Economic Development Department, shakes hands with Bill Shown of Silver Ventures after speaking to city council Thursday October 19, 2017 at city ... more

Photo: John Davenport, STAFF / San Antonio Express-News

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Council approves Credit Human incentives

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The City Council on Thursday voted unanimously to approve a massive incentives package for a local credit union that had explored leaving San Antonio but will now build a new headquarters at The Pearl.

The once-controversial plan to give Credit Human — known from its 1935 inception until last fall as “San Antonio Federal Credit Union” — some $8.8 million in city and county incentives had stoked criticism from within the council and out.

But in sparsely populated council chambers Thursday, the arguments against the package were tepid, at best. Ultimately, the package of tax abatements and rebates totaling $5.9 million passed 10-0 (Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran was absent for the vote). The approval came in the same week that the Bexar County Commissioners Court approved its incentives package, paving the way for a 10-story LEED-certified building that will house 435 current employees of the financial institution, which has also agreed to add an additional 50 new positions at its new, midtown headquarters.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg applauded the package, saying that development continually pushing outward is unsustainable and that this deal helps to develop a community connected to needed services, from transportation to parks.

“If we are to build a sustainable community, we have to make sure we’re building live-work-play options throughout our city,” he said, noting that the housing incentives that have been given in the area were by right, meaning that they’re available to any development that meets certain criteria. “In this case, this area of the city that is being incentivized for job growth has not seen it, which is why I think it’s something worth celebrating.”

The package approved by the council is a decade-long 100 percent tax abatement in addition to a 5-year tax rebate with a total value capped at $5.9 million. The tax rebate doesn’t impact the general fund, officials said, because its covered with funds from the Midtown TIRZ — an area that captures the incremental increase in tax revenue and reinvests it to promote growth within its boundaries.

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In addition to the 10-story tower, the project includes an adjacent 6-story mixed-use office building that will pay 100 percent of its city property taxes to the TIRZ. The net benefit to the city, Economic Development Director Rene Dominguez told the council, is about $7.7 million over the next two decades.

Councilman John Courage said he’d originally scoffed at the deal but changed course as he learned more about it. Credit union representatives had suggested they might move the firm’s headquarters to Schertz or New Braunfels as they planned to consolidate employees in a larger space.

“Like some of my colleagues, I was pretty skeptical of providing incentives for this project. I said to myself, ‘Well, you know, if they want to move to Schertz, so what. The 435 people who work there will just commute to Schertz and we don’t have to worry about $5 or $6 million worth of incentives,’” he told Dominguez from the dais. “The more you explained the project, and the more I think we discussed it, there certainly are values of keeping it in San Antonio, and the idea of the kind of building, the structure, that’s going to be built is impressive, and I’m glad to see that.”

Councilman Roberto Treviño, whose district includes the headquarters project, said it will lead to a much-needed investment in nearby streets and sidewalks, and a small park along Broadway and East Grayson.

“The approval of this incentive package, which keeps Credit Human in San Antonio, has truly set the bar for economic development in the urban core,” he said in a press release. “Credit Human is now positioned to make a serious investment in our infrastructure, but most importantly, our residents.”

He and others championed the financial institution’s mission of working with “underserved segments” of the community. The project also retains hundreds of jobs in San Antonio, and moves them to the urban core.